Tuesday, March 25, 2014

This and That..... And 264!

I must apologize for not being able to devote many hours to this space lately. I've been incredibly busy with a whole bunch of great things that I'll share with you all soon. It's good to be busy but sometimes my head spins when I think of what needs to get done.

The
lambs have been growing and growing and everyone is looking towards
spring. The lamb count is 264 babies so far.

Some of the lambs have figured out how to escape the fencing and have begun grazing the brown leftover grass from last fall. I wish they wouldn't because the coyotes aren't far away. Worry, worry but not a lot I can do about the rambunctious babies.

Mud season has come and then gone away when the ground freezes up. It seems to be an every other day occurrence. There is a big storm coming on the east coast but it sounds like we will escape more snow. Fingers crossed.

It is amazing to me to see that the grass is growing in other parts of the country
and we are still under snow here. The deer are starting to come out of
the woods in large numbers. Every evening, they pick at the ground in
our sheep pastures. I have to take care when driving at
dusk because there are so many deer herds crossing the roads.

Today I finally got a chance to take some photos of the lambs to share here. Aren't they getting big? It is so cold (again) and the mud is frozen - thank goodness.

We are almost at the end of the Winter Farmers Market Season (one Saturday market left) and then there is a couple weeks off before the two outdoor markets (Tuesday Northampton and Saturday Amherst) begin again. I'm pushing leg of lambs for Easter and Passover!

Here's what one of the hills looks like close to our farmhouse. Still a lot of snow depending on how the sun hits the fields.

I thought I would share some interesting things I have seen around the internet lately. Here you go.....1. If you are looking to get rid of some of your stash, you may find this post over at Design Sponge inspirational. For me though they remind me too much of the weaving I did back in the early 80's. I guess the trend is back again. Everything circles around, doesn't it? 2. Look at how these beautiful Wool Felt Ball Rugs are made here. I saw one of these in a swanky design store last year and loved it. I guess you could make one yourself. Seems like a perfect rug for a mod house. I'd like to step on one in the morning when I climb out of bed.3. Look at these pillows with a print of Knit Garter Stitch on them. More mod looking graphics. There are several styles and colors.4. Susan B. Anderson has a great post up about spring including photos of her latest toy - a sweet little bunny pattern called Bunny Love. Check it out here. 5. My food-writer friend Fran Brennan (who also happens to be a knitter) has just begun a great new website - Cookbooks365.com. Check it out and get a new recipe every day via the email feed. Fran and her partner in food Shelly Peppel used to write "Food News Journal" - it was a favorite food blog of mine. Have a great week everyone.

5 comments:

Meanwhile, still TONS of "white" around here! *Some* melting is going on because of the stronger sunlight and rising temps, but the COLD winds just end up counteracting any progress. Although Rain would help in the melting process, it would only cause MORE problems with FLOODING!

However, I did get some "entertainment" last week... Next to our driveway [in front of the Neighbour's lawn] is a parking "niche" where I usually shovel the road cr*p that ends up blocking our laneway into. And, about 7 feet in is a sewer-grate along the curb, that I always keep "clear". -- So the "current" road-poop-snowbank was almost a meter high. And very dirty looking from the sand and salt and melting and freezing and getting snowed on, etc... Anyhoo, as I was chopping a bit of ice away from the "run-off path", a "CITY" PLOW drives by. - PLOW-GUY is clearing up any covered sewers in the Neighbourhood... - Mine was good, but that snowbank was preventing water on the *other* side from getting to the grate.

So. Here's this giant-double-blade-MONSTER-MACHINE set to scrape away this *small* mound of dirty "snow"... No contest, right? - HA! -- The bottom foot-thick Layer was PETRIFIED-ICE! It took 15-minutes to literally STRIP-MINE the stuff away! A few inches at a time... Several times, the blade hydraulics were SMOKING and the whole plow was doing WHEELIES!! - I thought for sure that a layer of ashphalt would get peeled off as well.

Good afternoon I just wanted to promote that the folks at Webs will be having Color by Kristin on sale. Normally it is 9.95 sale price 6.99. The sale starts April 1 and runs through the month of April. Stock up on all those lovelies.

About Me

I am an author and artist specializing in surface design including the disciplines of ceramics, textiles, needlework, knitwear, stitchery, and interior design. The thread that holds my work together is color and pattern. I live in western Massachusetts, USA in a 1751 farmhouse with my husband Mark and daughter Julia on a farm along with over 250 sheep, chickens, cats and dogs.

Copyright Kristin Nicholas 2006 - 2019

All words and photos are copyright by Kristin Nicholas. Please do not use my original photos or reprint my writing without asking me for permission. Please make sure you credit me as Photographer and link back to this blog. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to e-mail me - my contact info is on the left sidebar. Thank you!